Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • G06Q20/00—Payment architectures, schemes or protocols
  • G06Q20/04—Payment circuits
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • G06Q20/00—Payment architectures, schemes or protocols
  • G06Q20/08—Payment architectures
  • G06Q20/10—Payment architectures specially adapted for electronic funds transfer [EFT] systems; specially adapted for home banking systems
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • G06Q20/00—Payment architectures, schemes or protocols
  • G06Q20/08—Payment architectures
  • G06Q20/10—Payment architectures specially adapted for electronic funds transfer [EFT] systems; specially adapted for home banking systems
  • G06Q20/102—Bill distribution or payments
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • G06Q20/00—Payment architectures, schemes or protocols
  • G06Q20/08—Payment architectures
  • G06Q20/10—Payment architectures specially adapted for electronic funds transfer [EFT] systems; specially adapted for home banking systems
  • G06Q20/108—Remote banking, e.g. home banking
  • G06Q20/1085—Remote banking, e.g. home banking involving automatic teller machines [ATMs]
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • G06Q20/00—Payment architectures, schemes or protocols
  • G06Q20/22—Payment schemes or models
  • G06Q20/223—Payment schemes or models based on the use of peer-to-peer networks
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • G06Q20/00—Payment architectures, schemes or protocols
  • G06Q20/22—Payment schemes or models
  • G06Q20/24—Credit schemes, i.e. "pay after"
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • G06Q20/00—Payment architectures, schemes or protocols
  • G06Q20/30—Payment architectures, schemes or protocols characterised by the use of specific devices or networks
  • G06Q20/32—Payment architectures, schemes or protocols characterised by the use of specific devices or networks using wireless devices
  • G06Q20/322—Aspects of commerce using mobile devices [M-devices]
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • G06Q20/00—Payment architectures, schemes or protocols
  • G06Q20/30—Payment architectures, schemes or protocols characterised by the use of specific devices or networks
  • G06Q20/32—Payment architectures, schemes or protocols characterised by the use of specific devices or networks using wireless devices
  • G06Q20/325—Payment architectures, schemes or protocols characterised by the use of specific devices or networks using wireless devices using wireless networks
  • G06Q20/3255—Payment architectures, schemes or protocols characterised by the use of specific devices or networks using wireless devices using wireless networks using mobile network messaging services for payment, e.g. SMS
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • G06Q20/00—Payment architectures, schemes or protocols
  • G06Q20/30—Payment architectures, schemes or protocols characterised by the use of specific devices or networks
  • G06Q20/32—Payment architectures, schemes or protocols characterised by the use of specific devices or networks using wireless devices
  • G06Q20/326—Payment applications installed on the mobile devices
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • G06Q20/00—Payment architectures, schemes or protocols
  • G06Q20/38—Payment protocols; Details thereof
  • G06Q20/385—Payment protocols; Details thereof using an alias or single-use codes
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • G06Q20/00—Payment architectures, schemes or protocols
  • G06Q20/38—Payment protocols; Details thereof
  • G06Q20/40—Authorisation, e.g. identification of payer or payee, verification of customer or shop credentials; Review and approval of payers, e.g. check credit lines or negative lists
  • G06Q20/401—Transaction verification
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
  • G07F—COIN-FREED OR LIKE APPARATUS
  • G07F19/00—Complete banking systems; Coded card-freed arrangements adapted for dispensing or receiving monies or the like and posting such transactions to existing accounts, e.g. automatic teller machines
  • G07F19/20—Automatic teller machines [ATMs]
  • G07F19/203—Dispensing operations within ATMs
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
  • H04W12/00—Security arrangements; Authentication; Protecting privacy or anonymity
  • H04W12/03—Protecting confidentiality, e.g. by encryption
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
  • H04W12/00—Security arrangements; Authentication; Protecting privacy or anonymity
  • H04W12/06—Authentication
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
  • H04W4/00—Services specially adapted for wireless communication networks; Facilities therefor
  • H04W4/12—Messaging; Mailboxes; Announcements
  • H04W4/14—Short messaging services, e.g. short message services [SMS] or unstructured supplementary service data [USSD]

Definitions

• This invention relates to electronic payment and associated systems.
• smart cards which, in addition to embodying passive data, have electronically erasable and rewriteable memory components, and in some cases processor electronics, within them so enabling the smart card to be used in a variety of interactive applications.
• the mobile telephone system as developed in recent years has embodied two features which, while originally developed for fulfilling clear objectives within the context of a mobile telephone network system, are applicable, as will appear below, on a broader basis to enable a new approach to financial transactions to be envisaged.
• SIM Subscriber Identity Module
• the memory "chip” among other things contains user identification details as well as its own unique identity.
• a mobile telephone subscriber does not require to carry around a mobile telephone unit all of the time if he or she is going to be in an environment where one is available. The subscriber can simply take such a unit, insert their own SIM card into it, and then use the mobile telephony system.
• PIN is an acronym for Personal Identification Number
• the user's PIN number is conventionally a four digit number which is not written down anywhere, but merely remembered by the user in order to enable, in the case under discussion, the SIM card to be used in a mobile telephony unit.
• each SIM card does, of course, have space for storing a unique "telephone number". It can be easily seen that just as the telephone system on a global basis provides a single unique telephone number for each subscriber, conventionally broken down into a country code, area code and subscriber number, so in a mobile telephony system, each SIM card must have a unique identification number, and, if desired, the SIM card can include other alphanumerical data of even greater length, for example an encryption key.
• SMS short messaging system
• This system was originally designed to emulate so-called pager systems, i.e. to enable the automatic display of a short message on the screen of mobile telephone unit in a fashion similar to that displayed by a conventional pager.
• pager systems i.e. to enable the automatic display of a short message on the screen of mobile telephone unit in a fashion similar to that displayed by a conventional pager.
• the system was developed so that individual mobile telephone units were adapted not merely to receive "pager" messages and display them, but could also construct them and send them.
• the short messaging system piggybacks on to the overall network monitoring, the cost of sending short messages is very reduced compared with the cost of making a mobile telephone call, which has led to its adoption particularly among young people who have mobile telephone units, but do not wish to pay the substantial costs involved if these are used substantially for voice telephony.
• United States Patent Specification 5719918 suggests combining the SMS used in mobile telephone systems with point of sale terminal technology.
• the proposed transaction handling system is essentially directed to enabling point of sale type transactions to be effected using the SMS feature of mobile telephony in conjunction with existing point of sale technology.
• a financial transaction processing system which combines the facilities of mobile phone systems using SMS with existing payment clearance systems. This can be done without the intermediation of a point of sale terminal as required in the systems disclosed in United States Specification 5719918. Instead, by equating the mobile telephone number with a payment number (which can be thought of in some senses as equivalent to a subscriber's bank account number), it is possible to produce financial transaction systems which operate rapidly and, more particularly, securely.
• a user of a mobile telephone unit operating in accordance with such a system and desiring to pay a third party need only compose a short message identifying the third party by means of its payment number and the account to be paid and providing such other details as may be appropriate to the transaction in question such as when the transaction is to be effected, whether confirmation of the transaction is required a tracking number, invoice number and any other standard acknowledgements or collateral information requests.
• the user of the system may choose the appropriate level of security or the system itself may apply the same and once the message has been composed and checked, it can be sent in the standard fashion.
• the programming on the SIM card may include means to guide the user through the procedure to compose the message in order that the message meets formal requirements such as standardised message structure.
• existing financial transaction settlement systems for example a credit card clearance system or a direct bank account to bank account clearance system
• SMS short message sent via SMS
• the mobile telephone network system may be provided with a number of servers to one of which each payment instruction message is directed and which is appropriately programmed to carry out the necessary validation and/or decryption steps and then to process the data in the short message into the appropriate input format for the particular settlement or clearing system in question.
• the servers may naturally be located where desired, either physically in the control of the telephony network provider, or under the physically secure control of the payment or clearing system itself.
• the server may be programmed as desired to send automatic transaction receipt messages back to the original sender of the short message and additionally, since the recipient is also going to have a payment number, additionally to the recipient, so that in quick, clear and efficient fashion, the payer knows that the payment is being processed and the payee knows that too.
• the level and complexity of such acknowledgement messages can vary according to whatever is desired, for example from a simple statement that a payment has been made by an identified individual through to greater detail as to the amount and any associated reference, for example an invoice number or date or other transaction identifier.
• a "sign on" procedure may be effected, but because of the already existing unique tracking and identification data associated with the user of the SIM card, establishing a secure subscription system is relatively straightforward and does not normally require extensive collateral checking, this already having been carried out by the telephone network supplier. Accordingly the subscription process can be simple and automated and can involve the automatic downloading from the network system into the microchip on the SIM card of the necessary programming to enable SMS message construction in the correct format for the transaction system.
• mobile telephone units Although reference has been made above to mobile telephone units, this should be interpreted broadly to cover not only the standard hand-held mobile telephone unit including a SIM card and enabling SMS to be used, but should be taken to include any more sophisticated personal communication devices such as WAP telephones or palm-top computers with mobile telephone access capacity. Indeed, other devices can be conceived which would not be normally regarded as mobile telephone units since they do not support voice telephony, but which are capable of providing appropriately standardised formatted small messages. For example, a laptop computer or even a PC could be appropriately programmed to format such messages and then transmit them via a wireless or land line telephone connection.
• the simple electronic payment system in accordance with the invention explained above is capable of substantial and flexible extension to enable it to operate within a variety of sophisticated business transaction frameworks and, in particular, it may be used in a number of straightforward common financial transaction scenarios.
• the user can simply compose a small message which, once transmitted, will make the relevant payment, either on a default basis, e.g. by registering the transaction with the user's credit card company or charge card company, or on a direct debit of the user's personal account basis.
• an ATM is identified with a payment number
• someone provided with a mobile telephone unit standing by that ATM can telephone a benefactor and if the benefactor is willing, the benefactor can then, using the transaction system in accordance with the invention, send a short message embodying the payment number of the ATM to the financial institution of their choice, whereupon that financial institution will debit the benefactor's account and cause the ATM to disgorge the relevant cash.
• the system may also be used for the secure transfer of monies into accounts held by employees, for example for payroll, commission or reimbursement of expenses purposes, all of which may be generated automatically in appropriately information-rich short messages into a banking payment clearing system.
• Payment advice may appear as a short message on the recipient's mobile telephone unit.
• Business to business payments may be cleared in similar fashion, again with short messages generated by the business' server running its accounting system, again with the account from which payment is taken being chosen by the payer appropriately and likewise the account into which the money is remitted being chosen by the payee appropriately.
• the system may be used in conjunction with customer lists, for example selected on a highly targeted basis following a data mining exercise on past consumer performance.
• a DVD production company may offer the latest DVD for purchase to a selected group of customers who have purchased similar DVDs in the past, again with the small message enabling the recipient to see what is on offer and if it is desired to purchase simply so indicating by pushing the "yes" button and inputting a PIN number.
• One very specific side effect of the transaction system in accordance with the invention is the ease with which virtual accounts may be created essentially in a virtual space analogous to (but separate from) the "cyberspace" of the Internet world.
• the recipient of money may choose not to have that money credited to a pre-existing bank, building society or the like account, but merely credited to a "virtual account” essentially resident in the memory of a server operated as part of the mobile telephony system, or, indeed, some other dedicated payment server operated elsewhere, for example by an Internet service provider.
• the recipient of the money can, using appropriate security measures, access the relevant server to determine the virtual balance held, they can regard that balance as simply being in a virtual account and, of course, spend it as necessary, with the amount to spend then being debited from that virtual account and credited to the virtual or real account of the payee.
• Banks or credit card companies are well placed to provide appropriate servers as they are already trusted parties for taking care of other people's money.
• the system may be programmed to provide periodic statements of account, for example by conventional e-mail a dedicated Internet secure portal or via a small message service, or the SIM card may be programmable to provide a constant tally of the balance.
• Figure 1 shows a sequence of screen displays as might be viewed by a user of the system initially subscribing to the system and subsequently carrying out a transaction;
• Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of a sophisticated system showing interaction between various functional units
• FIGS 3 to 9 are diagrammatic illustrations representing seven different types of transaction which may be carried out.
• FIG. 1 shows in a sequence of fifteen frames a typical screen display as might appear on a mobile telephone hand-held unit.
• a typical screen display as might appear on a mobile telephone hand-held unit.
• the user In order to subscribe, the user naturally calls the telephone network provider, the particular call number being one which may be publicly advertised, or receives a subscription software on his mobile unit.
• the sequence of prompts proceeds through steps 3, 4, 5 and 6, this last requesting the would-be subscriber to enter a PIN number which can be chosen by the subscriber as they wish.
• the system may generate a payment number which is in fact the number of the telephone, which may already have been stored in the SIM card, or which may actually be assigned by the network provider's server if the telephone unit has not previously been used.
• the screen display then moves to that shown in step 8 which gives two "Mpay" options, Mpay being an acronym for the system itself.
• the first option is to view previous instructions (the SIM card stores previous messages for a considerable period of time and enables them to be retrieved and viewed), or to execute a payment order.
• the screen display shown in step 9 emerges prompting the user to enter the payee's Mpay number, which is the telephone number of the payee, and then the amount to be paid followed by the PIN number to validate the payment. If the order has not been able to be successfully completed, for example due to refusal to honor the transaction by your credit card company, or some other like dire calamity a different message is shown. Otherwise, the message emerges to show that your account has been debited.
• the SMS causes a display to emerge as shown in step 13 with a menu enabling the user to look at the details straight away, in which case they emerge as shown in step 14, or to save the details and look at them later when desired.
• Step 15 in Figure 1 shows an alternative display which may be necessary, for example, when ordering goods over the system where, for example, a reference to a particular book or other purchaseable item may need to be attached to the payment instructions.
• FIG. 2 shows a variety of possible interconnections which may be made between various systems in a fully functioning payment system in accordance with the invention. Shown on the left are representations of two mobile phones which may each be in two-way communication (indicated by the double-headed arrow) with a network service provider shown by an icon including two telephone handsets surrounding a stylised world. Those networks may communicate via a communications satellite and each is able to send small messages, indicated by the envelope icon, to an Mpay server denoted Mpay which forms the backbone of the system. Mpay servers may transmit messages, for example, standard form e-mails to subscribers via the Internet/World Wide Web, but, for security reasons, appropriate technical means are employed to ensure that the communication is one way, i.e.
• Each of the Mpay servers illustrated is in two-way communication with an appropriate interface which in turn communicates with a standard payment clearing system, for example as illustrated in the Figure 1 operated by a major credit card company.
• a standard payment clearing system for example as illustrated in the Figure 1 operated by a major credit card company.
• the interface is shown on a separate system from the Mpay server, it may be designed to consist of an integral part of this server as well, and hence constitute a component of the Mpay server itself.
• the virtual account resident in a virtual account server which is in two-way communication with the Mpay server and the SMS system.
• the virtual account is shown as a separate system from the Mpay server, it may be designed to consist of an integral part of this server as well, and hence constitute a component of the Mpay server itself.
• Figures 3 to 9 show graphically the various types of common transaction discussed in general terms above.
• Figure 3 shows a typical Internet shopping transaction with the user's mobile phone communicating with the mobile phone network, and with the user putting the Mpay emergent number into the small message.
• the vendor may send via the Internet an appropriate e- mail acknowledgement.
• FIG 4 shows a system of which most parts will be instantly recognised from the description of Figure 2 above. However, as can be seen, there is a two-way connection between the SMS and a utility server here denoted PTT.
• Figure 5 shows diagrammatically the simplest possible case of one person transferring money to another while Figure 6 illustrates the possibility of someone with a mobile telephone unit actuating an automatic teller machine once they are aware of the telephone number of that machine, denoted in the drawing as an 800 number in customary fashion.
• Figure 7 shows the arrangement used for paying a workforce, with the accounts system server of the employer being denoted FDC on that drawing.
• Figure 8 shows the business to business arrangements where the accounting servers of two corporate bodies, noted FDC and ATT on the drawing, both communicate with the Mpay server.
• FIG. 9 shows the use of the system to exploit push marketing opportunities.
• the in-house server of a retail operation denoted FNAC in the drawing, sends notification to the four users illustrated using the SMS that, for example, a new DVD is available.
• the SMS system then communicates with the Mpay server to deal with the payment and with the retail operations server to advise that an order has been received and provide either automatically or following interrogation of the Mpay server by the FNAC server relevant physical delivery details such as a postal address.
• the present invention provides, overall, a system for effecting payments, wherein the system comprises: at least one terminal (typically a mobile station) that includes an application means for using the payment system, and a telecommunications network ensuring an exchange of messages (e.g. SMS); wherein said system for effecting payments further comprises: at least one payment system server which has means of communications with the telecommunications network and means to store and process payment instructions as well as to interface to outside respective payment clearance systems (e.g. credit card processing systems/networks); and wherein the payment system comprises means for transferring data and instructions between the mobile station and the respective payment clearance system.
• at least one terminal typically a mobile station
• a telecommunications network ensuring an exchange of messages (e.g. SMS)
• said system for effecting payments further comprises: at least one payment system server which has means of communications with the telecommunications network and means to store and process payment instructions as well as to interface to outside respective payment clearance systems (e.g. credit card processing systems/networks); and wherein the payment system comprises means for
• At least one payment reception system has means to receive messages from the payment system and/or from payment clearance systems, or has itself means of using the payment system.
• the payment system means for effecting payments of different natures are: means for loading the terminal with means of accepting payment instruction details, means for ensuring authentication of the terminal user, means for securing personalised secure use of the payment system, means for encrypting the payment instructions, means for exchanging payment instruction messages through the telecommunications network, means for exchanging messages with the telecommunications network, means for decrypting the payment instruction messages, means for creating records of payment system users in the payment system server, means for processing payment instructions, means for exchanging payment instructions with payment clearance systems, means for registering transactions in subscribers' respective accounts, means for composing respective acknowledgement and information messages to payers and payees, means for sending out transaction and statement reports for subscribers, means for billing subscribers, means for subscriber claim handling, means for payment server data mining, means for third-party use of subscriber transactions' data for promotion.
• Easv-to-subscribe payment system The willing user either calls a service telephone number for reception of the subscription means, or is sent the same over the air through the known and applicable techniques in mobile telecommunications. The user then enters the required subscription data and the means with which his terminal are equipped will take care of securing the data entered before sending them automatically after confirmation, through the telecommunications network in place, to the respective payment system server. The user needs to enter the data in question only at the time of subscription. Data entered may include one or more payment personal identification number (PIN) for personalisation and authentication of later payment services. Other modes of subscription could also be implemented, such as paper or electronic subscription forms as are widely used in financial services in various applications.
• PIN payment personal identification number
• PIN(s) take care of ensuring authentication and security of use of concerned terminal. Reception of acknowledgment message(s) by the system serve to provide immediate follow- up, transactions account and proof-of-payment. On another account, the use of the mobile telephone number as the payment number suggests a clear convenience of use especially for mobile users.
• Smart-card SIM various encryption and data protection means are added on top of the means for effecting payments in terminals
• Payment PIN(s) are used for authentication and security
• Telecommunications Network security ensures data transfer security
• security means are applied in data transfer to and from payment system servers and with payment clearance systems
• Unique numbering system used in world telephony, Trace and Track means of telecommunications messaging systems especially providing for unique and tamper-proof system of message identification, billing data and historical subscribers accounts.
• Telecommunications systems adaptability The payment system could be used in digital mobile systems, analog mobile systems, fixed and satellite systems, paging and personal digital assistants (PDA) systems, web-based and proprietary data exchange systems, and future generation telecommunication systems (e.g. 2.5G, 3 G systems).
• PDA personal digital assistants
• Terminals may include Mobile digital or analog handsets, PDA's, PC's or any terminal communicating through an adaptable telecommunications network.
• Payment system ensures, through the implementation of interfacing to the various existing and future payment clearance systems means in the payment servers, the applications of payment including: micro-payments, person-to-person, consumer-to-business, business-to-consumer, business-to-business, user-to- automated systems (e.g. ATM application), Web-based, automatic bill-settlement, payment-by-proxy and push-offering. All the applications taking place remotely if desired.
• Types of User accounts With interfacing means, the payment system allows for the implementation of the payment service applications for subscribers choosing to use cash (against payments at cash counters), bank accounts or plastic card accounts, and introduces virtual accounts as well.
• the payment system could be implemented on a global basis.
• Cost The very nature of telecommunications network signalling in the mobile networks ensures a very low cost of payment transactions.
• the means of interfacing with the existing and future clearance and merchant payment systems ensure a minimum change requirement in terms of equipment and procedures for payment parties.
• the server architecture of the payment system ensures a low- investment scalable approach for the adopting payment provider(s). All combined, this should reflect in a low payment transaction cost to the benefit of the user, the merchant and the payment providers(s).
• Time-to-Market The nature of the payment system server, and the standard interfacing and interconnection means used in the design and conception of the system, ensure a fast deployment advantage, a low cost of subscriber acquisition, and a modular growth service coverage.
• the payment provider is capable of addressing a large mobile and fixed user base, effect payments more efficiently and at a higher security. Also, the cost advantage in automation and inherent transaction cost will substantially reduce its service cost. All combined, the provider(s) will be attracting more transactions through its system, taking share out of electronic and nonelectronic payment means and pioneering a highly competitive market where subscribers are likely to stay attached to their provider, as they are attached to their telephone calling numbers.

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• 2000
  • 2000-11-15 GB GBGB0027922.4A patent/GB0027922D0/en not_active Ceased
• 2001
  • 2001-11-15 AT AT01996839T patent/ATE337592T1/de not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2001-11-15 WO PCT/IB2001/002153 patent/WO2002041271A1/en active IP Right Grant
  • 2001-11-15 DE DE60122563T patent/DE60122563T2/de not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 2001-11-15 AU AU2002220939A patent/AU2002220939A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2001-11-15 EP EP01996839A patent/EP1334475B1/de not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 2001-11-15 US US10/416,807 patent/US20050102230A1/en not_active Abandoned
• 2009
  • 2009-01-21 US US12/320,173 patent/US20090204546A1/en not_active Abandoned

Patent Citations (8)

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